From learning a language, to building a rocket ship: Women of Silicon Roundabout's Career Garden goals and how to achieve them

No dream is too crazy. That’s why we gave this year’s attendees at Women of Silicon Roundabout a career garden to pin up their goals for the next year.

No dream is too crazy. That’s why we gave this year’s attendees at Women of Silicon Roundabout a career garden to pin up their goals for the next year. They ranged from the modest to the mega, but we’ve tried to break down how to achieve our favourites.

"Next year I will…"

“Reach 100 sales with a product people LOVE”

100 sales could be either a very ambitious or very modest goal, depending on what it is you’re selling. If you’re flogging yachts with built-in helipads, 100 sales will get you an early retirement, but if cupcakes are your thing, you may want to add a few zeroes to that number.

“Find inner peace”

So important. This might be the most essential part of any personal development plan. Inner peace means different things to different people of course – some might yearn for their dream job, whilst others might just be dreaming of that day when they finally work for themselves. Whatever peace means to you, write it down, and figure out the best way to take steps towards that goal.

“Decide a career path, even if it’s temporary”

‘What should I do with my life’ is a question as old as time, and something that often isn’t all that clear until you’re older. Be sure that whatever you decide to do for your career, whether now or twenty years from now, it has your own happiness as your end goal (see the point above).

Once you’ve got something in mind you’d like to achieve, it’s often better to start doing what you need to do today, note: the most important thing to do is start. Focus on what you can do right now to start making a difference.

“Next year I want to build a rocket ship to reach Saturn”

Ever heard the expression “it’s not rocket science”? Ironically enough, the ‘science’ probably isn’t the hardest part of building a rocket ship. For a layperson, the biggest obstacle towards building a rocket ship might be finding enough people to help you out. You would need several aerospace engineers, software engineers, electronic engineers, government experts, and designers to design the shape of your rocket. Oh, and at least 100 metric-tons of various metals. But it is not impossible!

“Build better relationships with IT partners”

Wanting to build a better relationship with your colleagues is very common, and something that doesn’t often come naturally.

Indeed, scientists have found processes occurring across Antarctica that were once only thought to be taking place in some parts of the continent, which theoretically means the whole continent could melt. However, scientific opinions are mixed as to how quickly this will take place. In fact, the Arctic is thought to be melting a lot fast than the Antarctic, with some predictions as early as 2040 for all ice to be melted – so you’ve got at least until then.

Worryingly, some of the biggest tech cities in the world will be at risk when the tide starts to rise. New York, for instance, is believed by many to be one of the first places that could end up underwater.

“To learn another language”

Like many of the other goals in our career garden, learning a language takes time, and lots of it. On the bright side, getting started learning a language has arguably never been easier. TryDuolingofor instance, which has a great free phone app, or the BBC’sLanguage lessons.

Be on the front cover of Forbes

This one is a bit trickier than it first appears. You may think “Hey, I only have to reach a certain level of fame, and boom! I’m on the cover!” But look a bit closer and you’ll see that Forbes then to slap a certain kind of face on their cover. If you want to be a Forbes cover star, I’d recommend becoming an actor, singer, sports icon, US president, or tech entrepreneur. Hey, that last one doesn’t seem so unlikely!